


Forever is a long time

by avocadhoe



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 14:29:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15865491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avocadhoe/pseuds/avocadhoe
Summary: "Pulling some paper from a drawer she wrote down her final goodbye to him throwing her bag over her shoulder she left the note on his bedside table along with her house key, pressed a lingering kiss into his hair and silently left through the front door."





	Forever is a long time

“Scott…kiddo, look at me.”

Sitting there on her crisp white couch, the one Scott had never quite been comfortable on, the fear of doing something to ruin them a constant worry in his head. He lifted his eyes and took all of her in. Her dark brown hair - half tied up in a bun on the top of her head, the rest tumbling down her shoulders – it was growing quickly, only a few months since she cut it and it was already hid favourite length for running his hands through.

He took in her angled nose, remembering all the times she had nuzzled into _his_ neck, seeking that comfort and security that he knew she craved after a long day. Remembering all the kisses he had left on it when he had woken up at the crack of dawn and left her sleeping in the hope that she would have at least a few more minutes rest before rising, not that it ever happened, she knew when he wasn’t there and often that was enough for her to get up as well, if only to spend a few more minutes with him in silence as she cradled her coffee sat at the kitchen island and he busied himself around her gathering up various bits and pieces.

His eyes continued down, resting on her lips. Stained slightly pink from the lipstick she had been wearing that day. Her smile was one of his favourite things, the way it lit up her entire face, making her eyes sparkle with pure joy. There were not enough words in his vocabulary that could describe the rush of feelings he had every time he saw the crinkle on the outer corner of her eyes or heard her soft laugh filling the air. No matter his mood, Tessa’s smile was always infectious to him, warming him from his very core until all he could think about doing was smiling back and watching her beam just a fraction wider.

His eyes started their journey back up, trying to take in every single freckle that was scattered so perfectly across her face, the slight flush in her cheeks that he knew to be from the intensity of his gaze.

He reached her eyes, those gorgeous green eyes. Eyes that held countless stories, most of which he had had the pleasure of living through right by her side. Then there were some that he had heard round the dinner table and some which he wished with all his being that he could have been there with her - that he had made a different decision all those years ago when he was young and naïve.

He had experienced every emotion from cold and closed, to raging fire and passion and back to kind and gentle and welcoming. He valued every emotion for every emotion made her the fighter she was today; her kind spirit and fierce determination were all just a part of her and he simply adored every bit.

 

“This is it, isn’t it T? Thank You Canada was our final hurrah.”

 

The pain in her eyes was almost unbearable but there was no running from this conversation, of all the times Scott needed to just suck it up and have the hard chats this time was the most important.

 

She reached out to hold his hands, her thumb grazing softly over his knuckles.

 

“You said it yourself Scott, we’re finished with skating now, we’ve done it and we’ve said goodbye. We want different things for ourselves now…You’re ready to settle down here, start a family, buy a house. Heaven knows how excited Your mother is for that.” She looked away for a moment and clenched her jaw, willing her voice to hold out until she was done. “I’m just not there yet, there’s still so much of this world I have to see before I’m done… and I can’t say how long I will be. I don’t want you following me around forgetting what it is _you_ want to do with your life and I don’t want you sat here waiting for me, hoping that next time I’m home it will be for good.”

Reaching out to cup his cheek she took a deep breath, “21 years is a long time kiddo, and those first 21 years are the hardest of anybody’s life. That’s before you throw in everything else we had to go through on top. I know we’ve worked things out and we’ve done our therapy and we’re better for it but that doesn’t take away everything that we still haven’t figured out, it doesn’t take away the pain and uncertainty that is still just bubbling under the surface. We threw ourselves right back into training and rehearsals and then we rode the Olympic high all the way through to the tour, I just need some time and some space – you do too even if you don’t know it yet.”

 

Scott reached out, both his hands on her waist and pulled her on top of him. Burying his face into her shoulder he wrapped one arm round her waist and moved his other hand up to cradle the back of her neck. In return she wove one of her hands through his hair scratching lightly at his scalp in an effort to comfort him as best she could. She knew he wouldn’t completely understand yet, knew how hard this would be for him to process but she also knew this was a conversation they had sooner rather than later. The longer they dragged this out - pretending they had never been better - the more destructive the inevitable fallout would be.

 

A little while later Scott moved his hand and tapped Tessa lightly on the ass, looking up at her he whispered, “I’m going to bed T, please come with me.”

Tessa kissed the side of his forehead before standing up, pulling him gently by the hand she led him to her room. Their room. She knew they wouldn’t have sex tonight, it would make it all much too painful, but they would seek comfort in each other’s arms just one last time.

They were silent as they undressed, despite making a decision together the air was still heavy both of them reflecting inside their own heads, wishing there was another way out. Tessa pulled back the blankets and climbed in, rolling over so she was facing the middle of the bed, Scott followed shortly after, pulling her close once more, stroking her hair until he was sure she had drifted off. It was only then that he let the tears fall, soft and silent down his cheek.

He’d cried in front of her before but this time it was different. It was private. Crying in front of her this time would only cause her pain. Eventually he was too exhausted to stay awake and fell into his own restless sleep, Tessa tucked into his side, the smell of her a shampoo sparking the most bittersweet memories as it washed over him.

 

~

 

Tessa rose early the next morning, her own tears dried on her face, she knew she didn’t have time to pack anything that wasn’t essential as Scott knew subconsciously when she wasn’t there. It broke her heart to leave him like this, but her mental strength was dwindling. She knew if she were to wait for him to wake it would only take those wide eyes of his and one final plea to stay and she would be right back in his arms. She knew she was taking the easiest way out and that was killing her inside but right now it was the only way out she could see.

Pulling some paper from a drawer she wrote down her final goodbye to him throwing her bag over her shoulder she left the note on his bedside table along with her house key, pressed a lingering kiss into his hair and silently left through the front door.

 

~

 

When Scott woke he knew instantly, the room was cold and unwelcoming. He rubbed his hand over his face and sat up. Scanning the room, he noticed that almost everything was untouched, she had grabbed maybe a handful of clothes and her beauty products – that was it.

His eyes fell to the paper lying on the bedside table, deciding there was no point putting this moment off he reached out to pick it up.

 

_To my dearest Scott,_

_Nothing pains me more than leaving this way, I wish we could have ended on a different note._  
These last 21 years have been simply incredible, I wouldn’t change  
them for the world.  
If I could trade in everything I own for the chance to do it all  
again with you I would do it in a heartbeat.  
I only hope that one day you understand why it is so important that we take time to  
go our separate ways.

_Go out there and be incredible, my love. I am already so proud of  
everything you have done and everything you will do._

_I will never love anyone the way I have had the pleasure of loving you,_  
the way you have loved me in return and the things you have taught me  
are more valuable, more precious and more cherished than all  
of those medals we won put together.

_Forgive me,_

_Tutu  
x_

 

Scott flopped back down onto the bed. Folding her note carefully into a small square he held it tightly in his palm, attempting to hold onto one last piece of her. This was it. She really was gone this time.

~

It had been 15 years.

 

15 years since she had left her house in the early hours of the morning. She had kept her promise for the first 5 years, keeping up to date with how he was doing and what he was up to. Looking on proudly as he took on his part time role as a coach when Marie-France and Patrice were away. Silently supporting each and every one of his charity events and getting a monthly update from her mother on his wellbeing.

Then he met Rosie. She was beautiful, long Auburn hair with bright shining blue eyes that looked up at Scott as if he had hung the moon.

That was when it became too much for her, too painful and she slowly faded into the background again. She went travelling, visiting country after country, representing her brands and throwing herself into the new and exciting cultures. She loved every minute of it, but it meant her time spent with family became limited.

The occasional visit to her mom and sister started to feel forced, more of a formality that pained her beyond belief, being so close to her old home and her old life.

When she had first left Scott she had made sure that everything she didn’t need was sent to her mother’s house. Her skates, her costumes, her medals and her photos had all been boxed up and moved.

Tessa knew Kate still displayed her medals an even had a few more photos around the house from the most recent years – that was just what a proud mother did. That was okay, Tessa could deal with that, it would have been too much to have kept them gathering dust in a box as she hopped from city to city. She knew that they were still loved and cherished with her family, they held only fond memories and proud moments for everyone else.

It was also okay that whenever she managed to make a trip home her mother would temporarily put it all away. The subject of Scott was avoided like the plague, no-one knew exactly what happened that resulted in Tessa moving halfway across the country on a whim or why boxes containing her whole life up until that moment arrived on Kate’s doorstep. The only one that had been brave enough to ask directly was Jordan and as soon as the response was Tessa turning around and leaving before going radio silent for 6 months, it was made known that Scott Moir and everything that could be tied to him was dangerous territory for conversation.

Only once had the Virtue family dared mention him to Tessa in the 15-year gap between then and now. In the Spring of 2025, just after Scott and Rosie had welcomed their second child. Sienna was born just 18 months after her brother Arlo.

They were older children now. At aged 7 and 9, Tessa was sure they would be running their dear father into the ground, especially if that little girl of his had inherited his eyes – there would be no way she hadn’t learnt very quickly how to use them to her advantage.

Tessa smiled fondly at the thought of Scott spending his days running around with two of his very own children, sitting down at the end of the day with his brand new family beside him and the hours he would put into ensuring that they had the best life they could ever dream of.

He’d done it.

He had made his new life, with his wife and two beautiful that brought him all the joy in the world.

She had made the right decision all those years ago. He didn’t need Tessa anymore. That shy little girl from London, Ontario really was just a distant memory now. 

 

~

Scott held the tiny baby in his arms, watching as his tiny face scrunched up and then relaxed into peaceful slumber again. a tiny fist holding tightly onto Scott’s little finger as he gently cradled the rest of the child’s body with his other arm.

His first grandchild, he had forgotten how small these tiny humans were and boy were they cute. He wished with everything that Rosie could have been there to experience this whole new wave of love.

It had been 17 years without her and despite the details of the day now being fuzzy, the lines between facts and what he had filled in with his own imagination blurred together. He had just gone up to check on the children, both sound asleep. He was waiting for Rosie to finish work for the week, so they could just relax and spend time as a family over the weekend. Her work hours weren’t always set in stone so when she was 2 hours later than they both thought she was going to be Scott didn’t pay it much mind, it wasn’t until he was woken in the middle of the night and he realised that she still wasn’t home that he began to worry.

He remembered answering the front door to two police officers and from there it was as if he was separated from his body; watching his life play out in front of his eyes through a blurred screen, barely able to hear anything that was being said.

He remembered feeling like time was ticking by excruciatingly slowly and yet at the same time he was losing hours upon hours of the day without realising it.

He remembered the two officers trying to explain to him that they had found Rosie’s ID at the scene of the car crash, that they needed him to go with them to the station, so they could talk more freely about what they think had happened.

He remembered calling his brother in the middle of the night to come and watch the kids, so he was able to leave, and the worry that was all over Charlie’s face as he pushed his way into Scott’s home.

He remembered getting home and finding his children awake with their favourite uncle Charlie drinking hot chocolates and watching the cartoons playing on the TV.

He remembered offering Charlie the couch to sleep on before scooping up his sleepy children and taking them into his room to sleep.

He remembered being certain of only one thing and that was that there was no way he was letting them be more than a few feet away from him for a while.

He remembers the confusion on both their faces as he sat them down at breakfast and told them their mother had been in a car crash. That she wasn’t going to be coming home.

And he remembered taking their wedding rings and placing them safely inside an old jewellery box from his mother, a jewellery box that was empty except for one worn, crumpled piece of paper that he had found on his bedside table many years ago.

 

He had done his best to raise his children as a single parent, he had endless amounts of support from his family and even Kate reached out to offer her help if he ever needed it. While he appreciated the gesture that was just one step too far for Scott, he didn’t think he would be able to be anywhere near a Virtue, knowing that they took him one step closer to Tessa, especially not at a time when he missed her endless love and support just as much as he missed his late wife.

Oh boy did he miss her.

While she was travelling he was still able to keep up, see pictures of her embracing all the different cultures, but now that she had stopped it was like she never existed, she could be living in Europe, or just over the road and he would be none the wiser.

 

~

 

He was nervous. Unbelievably nervous, it was only Tessa. But this was Tessa 45 years after she had walked out on him, left him to find his own way in the world.

Now she was meeting his children and his grandchildren. She was meeting the family she had given him the chance to find.

There was no doubt in his mind that she would love them, and that they would love her in return. His children had asked him many times before about his life as an Olympian, but they soon grew bored of his repeated, vague answers. Now they were getting the chance to grill somebody else about it and even as grown adults he could tell they were both beyond excited about the opportunity.

It had all started again when he and Tessa had both been asked to return to the Ice-dance community one more time, to talk to the future competitors and share what their experience was like when they competed all those years ago. Both of them jumped at the chance to work together again in a safe, professional environment.

Of course, as soon as they saw each other waves upon waves of memories came flooding back and it was as if they had never been apart. They were back together again. Tessa and Scott; Olympic Gold Medallists.

When they had finished working they made the decision to properly catch up, Scott wanted to introduce her to his family, the family she had pushed him to find.

They had arranged to go out for dinner; Tessa, Arlo and his son, Sienna and her eldest son plus the twins, and him – it was going to be absolute mayhem.

 

~

 

It had gone swimmingly, Tessa had bonded with his family just like he knew she would and she was currently chatting to Sienna with great enthusiasm about her favourite part of travelling. Scott smiled at the pair, rubbing his hand up and down Tessa’s back as she spoke. In a perfect world they would have never have had to separate or at best been apart for 5 years at most before reconnecting, that she had made her own memories with his children as they were growing up or even that his children were her children. It was not a perfect world however and they both knew that the last 45 years had been the paths they were meant to take. If this was what he got of Tessa he was beyond grateful, it was more than he ever thought he would have again.  

The conversation moved onto skating and Scott was more than happy to join in this chat, Arlo and Sienna picking up on his comfort with the conversation joined in, their own burning questions being answered. Tessa and Scott recounted stories in turn, often jumping in while the other was talking to tell their own version or to finish the sentence in perfect synchronicity. They were quick to skip over the difficult subjects like Tessa’s surgery, choosing to spend more time telling the children about the jokes they had and the number of times they would try and distract each other during practices and training.

 

“Why did you stop, grandpa?”

 

The question came from one of the twins. Flora looked up at him with her wide eyes, picking up on the mood change around the table. Tessa looked down, collecting herself before offering Scott a small smile as she reached across and squeezed his hand. Scott squeezed back before looking back at Flora over the top of his glasses before saying, “forever is a long time, kiddo. Sometimes the best thing to do is stop, even if it’s the hardest thing to do in the entire world.”

Tessa sucks in a breath when she heard him call that innocent little girl ‘kiddo’. Her heart aching with nothing but fondness and pride at the gentleman her Scott has continued to be through his whole life. Looking round at this family he had nurtured she knew, it was all worth it, he had incredible children that had given him the best little grandchildren. He had the big family that he had always wanted and when he was ready, he had her back too.

 

~

 

Tessa found herself creating a home in Ilderton. After the first week she decided the wisest thing to do would be renting out a quaint little cottage for her to use as and when she needed – which turned out to be every single day for the last 3 months. It felt strange for her to be so still and so comfortable back in Ilderton but then again, she wasn’t up to hopping on planes every other day anymore.

It was quite common for her and Scott to find time at least once a week and just be together again, catching each other up on the last 45 years. It was comfortable, it was familiar and if the grey hairs and wrinkles didn’t give them away it would almost be as if no time had passed at all. Long gone were the days when Scott could lift her above his head like she weighed less than a feather, instead there was slightly hobbled walks as they ambled along arm in arm. Tessa told herself it was to support him after all, he was a frail old man now, but in reality, she knew she needed to be touching him again, their movements so predicted and so in sync it was as if the other person was nothing more than an extra limb.

Today was no different, Scott had arranged for a car to pick her up, but she wasn’t to know where she was going until she got there. It didn’t take long, the familiar roads they were driving on brought back nothing but fond memories. She couldn’t remember the bad ones anymore – they weren’t important to her. What was important were the countless times she had driven these roads with him.

Scott soon learnt that when they were driving at a ridiculous time in the morning it was best just to let her sleep a bit longer. When they were really small he would sometimes rest with her, sliding one of his arms round her and pulling her into his side, inviting her to use his shoulder as a pillow. As they got older and began driving themselves around he always turned the radio down low and drove excruciatingly slowly so as not to disturb her as they drove over the bumps in the road.  
There were days when Tessa merely dozed in the morning and sat curled up in the passenger seat, warmth touching every nerve ending inside her body when Scott reached over to caress her cheek or move the hair from in front of her eyes.

Then there were the afternoon drives that were filled with jokes and laughter, both of them dancing in their seats, breaking out into peals of laughter that gave them both stiches. Not forgetting the late-night drives that had them talking about everything and nothing, the drives where they really learnt about each other on a whole new level.

Tessa leant forward slightly as the car slowed to a stop. Just there in front of her was the Ilderton ice rink and standing at its doors was one Mr Scott Moir. Without saying a word, he turned and started to walk inside the building. Tessa’s curiosity getting the better of her, thanked her driver as she stepped down out of the car and followed him.

There he was, standing by the side of the rink watching her, his grey hair highlighted by the light reflecting off the ice. She made her way over to him, leaning on the boards slightly she turned to face the ice. Her eyes scanned around, taking everything in. It was all so familiar, she could almost picture everyone out on the ice – friends and strangers alike. Turning to face Scott again preparing to question why he had brought her here but before she could start her words got caught in her throat.

There he was, her Scott, down on one knee in front of her.

“Tessa Virtue, when I was 30 I was convinced that I would never be able to live a day without you by my side. You were everything to me and you made me feel whole. It took me a long time to forgive you for leaving the way you did, and it took me an even longer time to understand it.  
You shattered my heart that day and it wasn’t until I saw you again this year that I truly felt it was whole again. Rosie, Arlo, Sienna, they all helped build it back up and it only grew when the little munchkins were born but T, there was always something else missing; something that over time I could forget about, something that I just couldn’t put my finger on. That something was you.  
Now I understand, that was how you were feeling after the tour. The difference is, your missing piece wasn’t me, your missing piece was time and I was in the way, I was stopping you finding your missing piece.  
God Tess, I couldn’t even see how much pain I had caused you, how much I was still hurting you by holding onto you so tightly. I was so afraid Tess, so afraid that I wasn’t loving you enough and I ended up loving you so much it smothered you.  
I can see that now and I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry Tutu.  
Forgive me?”

It was only as he finished speaking he noticed the tears rolling down her face. Scrambling to his feet, using the side of the rink to support him he looked at Tessa, panic overriding all logical thought in his brain.

Tessa picked up on this and pulled him close, gently pressing her nose to his she whispered,

 

“I forgave you a long time ago Mr Moir. Now it’s time to go home” 


End file.
